1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to databases, systems and physical computer storage media for backing up a database.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data processing systems often store significant quantities of valuable data. For example, data processing systems may store transaction data, inventory data, customer service configurations, account information, and the like. The data may be stored as a plurality of data sets across one or more physical storage volumes, referred to herein as source volumes. A data set may be a file, a database, and/or other logical organization of data. The data sets may be critical to an organization employing the data processing system. As a result, data sets are typically copied to protect against loss. The data processing system may copy a data set to one or more backup physical storage volumes to back up the data set. The backup physical storage volumes are referred to herein as backup volumes.
Data is protected by frequently making backup copies, referred to herein as “backing up.” Frequent backing up minimizes the potential for data loss. Unfortunately, backing up data sets consumes data processing system bandwidth. Additionally, many database applications require the application to be inactive while the database is being backed up. In these regards, point-in-time techniques are typically employed to ensure that the periods of inactivity occur during brief time windows. The brief time windows begin only after the backup application has serialized upon the database.